1. Field of Endeavor
The invention generally relates to a heat lamp. The invention more particularly relates to an electrical heat lamp for pigs, especially for small pigs and/or pig breeding.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
It is well known that new born and very young pigs require heat in order to thrive and grow. Therefore, heat lamps have been developed for the pig farrowing industry with the purpose of keeping new born and young pigs warm.
In traditional farrowing operations, it is desirable to heat, at least a part of, the box areas. A common method is to suspend a heat lamp over the box areas.
Prior art heat lamps for pigs typically use bulbs to generate heat, and when the box area is cleaned with the use of water, each heat lamp has to be removed from the box area. After the cleaning process the heat lamps have to be put back in place. This is a time consuming process and the heat lamps may be damaged during this process. Accordingly, it is desirable to have an alternative to these heat lamps.
The prior art heat lamps for pigs provide a rather inhomogeneous heat distribution. Thus, it is typically very hot in a small, basically circular, area below the heat lamp. On the other hand, the temperature is a decreasing function of the distance to the centum of the hot area. Accordingly, the optimum temperature is only present in a restricted area. Therefore, it is often very difficult for the pigs to find a comfortable place to stay.